Driving Alpha

About Driving Alpha

Driving Alpha is the podcast where we feature our friends, the out-performing investors, who demonstrate their path to driving alpha, i.e., out-sized investment returns. Driving Alpha is sponsored by Alpha Partners. At Alpha, our strategy is simple. We co-invest with some of the world's top VCs by sharing economics with early-stage investors in their most exciting companies.

Publisher

Alpha Partners

Category

business · business

Language

en

Explicit

No

First episode

29 Apr 2024

Latest episode

22 Jul 2026

Latest episodes

47 episodes in the feed.

1. 

   22 Jul 2026

   How Contrary invests in people years before they start companies (with Kyle Harrison)

   What if the best way to win a deal isn't a faster term sheet, but a five-year head start on the relationship? That's the premise behind how Kyle Harrison and Contrary source and back founders. Here's a glimpse of what you'll learn: 00:00 Welcome and Guest Intro 01:14 Contrary People Network 04:27 Research and Writing Flywheel 08:28 AI Tools and Thinking 11:58 Big Funds and Capital Cycles 20:01 Inside The Anduril Thesis 24:25 LPs and Defense Investing 27:49 Defense Bubble Psychology 33:52 Markets Kyle Excited About 38:14 Closing Thanks In this episode... Kyle, General Partner at Contrary, breaks down the firm's people-centric sourcing model, building relationships with future founders years before they raise capital, and how that approach put Contrary inside Ramp, Anduril, Basepower, and Hallow well before those bets were obvious. He also lays out his framework for today's fundraising environment: the "unholy trinity" of yield-seeking LPs, capital agglomerators, and capital-absorbing startups. Kyle and Sam also get into the three-year research project behind his book, The Anduril Thesis, what a century of military-industrial history teaches about underwriting founders like Palmer Luckey, and how he uses Claude and Claude Code without letting AI replace his own thinking. They close on where Contrary is investing today, from software moats like Carta Health to physical-world bets like American Housing Corporation. Episode Host: Alpha Partners This episode is brought to you by Alpha Partners, an NYC-based growth equity firm managing $300 million. Alpha co-invests in top-tier growth equity companies led by the world's best investors. We focus on scaling and late-stage tech investment opportunities primarily in the essential technology sector, including e-commerce, enterprise software, fintech, edtech, and health IT. To learn how we can help you with your funding goals, visit https://www.alphapartners.com, or email us at vc@alphapartners.com.

2. 

   1 Jul 2026

   Why you can't vibe-code a factory with Julian Counihan (Schematic Ventures)

   What does it take to identify a multi-decade investment category before the rest of venture capital even considers it viable? Julian Counihan launched Schematic Ventures in 2017 to back Physical AI and supply chain technology when the space was widely considered uninvestable — and spent the years since building factory-floor relationships and writing first checks in companies like Altana, Flock Freight, Harbinger, and Platform Science. Here's a glimpse of what you'll learn: 00:00 Welcome and Introductions 00:41 Origin of Schematic Thesis 02:03 Moving to San Francisco 03:40 First Checks in Supply Chain 05:13 Vibe Coding and AI Agents 09:58 Fund Three Edge in Physical AI 13:36 Hardware Software Investment Mix 14:31 Tourists and New Capital 16:24 Capex and Financing Reality 18:50 Valuations and Cycle Discipline 20:41 Humanoid Robots Reality Check 22:47 SpaceX and Liquidity Thoughts 24:18 Next Magic Moments in AI 27:47 Model Costs and Subsidies 28:59 Closing Thanks and Wrap In this episode... Brian and Julian trace the early conviction behind fund one — from Altana's supply chain data disruption to Harbinger's Class 6 electric truck. They discuss what separates fundable capital-intensive businesses from those that aren't, how Julian counsels founders through peak-cycle valuations, and the edge that two decades of factory visits and industry relationships buys you when generalist investors flood your category. The episode also covers Julian's daily use of AI coding agents, why the magic comes from the harness around the model rather than the model itself, and a grounded take on where humanoid robotics actually stands today. Episode Host: Alpha PartnersThis episode is brought to you by Alpha Partners, an NYC-based growth equity firm managing $300 million. Alpha co-invests in top-tier growth equity companies led by the world's best investors. We focus on scaling and late-stage tech investment opportunities primarily in the essential technology sector, including e-commerce, enterprise software, fintech, edtech, and health IT. To learn how we can help you with your funding goals, visit https://www.alphapartners.com, or email us at vc@alphapartners.com.

3. 

   29 Apr 2026

   Why Centana Invests in Fintech - with Ben Cukier

   What does it take to generate consistent growth equity returns in one of the most regulated industries in the world? Ben Cukier, Partner and Co-Founder of Centana Growth Partners, has spent over 25 years doing exactly that, investing exclusively in the financial services ecosystem and backing the companies that are quietly transforming it. Here's a glimpse of what you'll learn: 00:00 Welcome and Ben Intro 01:41 Regulation Over AI 02:24 Moats and Compliance 04:44 KYC and Sanctions Example 05:39 Portfolio Spotlight: Sayari Labs 06:20 ZestyAI InsurTech Pivot 07:40 Wildfire Model and 50-State Filings 10:07 Israel and the Fintech Ecosystem 10:56 Founder Pitch and Unit Economics 12:57 Growth Stage and Fund III 14:48 How Centana Makes Decisions 18:09 Career Lessons and Trusting People 21:05 Biggest Miss: Passing on PayPal 22:21 Fintech Market Size and the 2021 Vintage 23:35 Five-Year Outlook and AI Adoption 27:39 Closing and Next Steps In this episode, Steve Brotman speaks with Ben Cukier about why regulation in financial services is not a headwind but a durable competitive moat. Ben walks through how every company Centana backs must be regulation-aware, citing KYC, sanctions compliance, and beneficial ownership identification as examples of where fintech creates real enterprise value. He dives into portfolio companies Sayari Labs and ZestyAI, and explains how the latter pivoted from solar lead generation into one of the most sophisticated AI-powered property underwriting platforms in the insurance industry. Ben also shares how Centana evaluates unit economics and what growth-stage really means to them, the firm's inclusive investment committee process, and why he believes the big banks and insurers will remain dominant while their service providers undergo radical transformation. He reflects on passing on PayPal, the 2021 valuation bubble, and why he still believes the SaaS apocalypse narrative is both real and overblown at the same time.

Who has been a guest on Driving Alpha

Names identified in recent episode analyses. Showing up to five guests.

• Ben Orthlieb
• Jonathan Taylor
• Brice Penaud
• Manish Patel
• Joshua Baer

Reach and audience

Public platform figures. Ratings count people who left a rating, not total listeners.

YouTube views

11,105

Score snapshot 15 Sept 2025

Apple Podcasts (US)

3.7 / 5

3 ratings

Spotify

5.0 / 5

5 ratings

Podcast Authority Score: 57 / 100

A composite of feed quality, social presence, YouTube performance and engagement. Read the methodology.

Quality

64

Social presence

0

YouTube

76

Engagement

51

Contact Driving Alpha

Guest appearances

Does not typically book guests

Based on episode analysis; this does not confirm that the show is currently accepting guests.